Hey, sorry again. It took me months to wright this and I'm sorry. Again. I was busy with lots of other things. Especially school. So, last chapter I said I had a busy time at school and because of that I wouldn't be writing. It turns out this busy period isn't a period. It's my life :-(. It probably isn't going to change this school year. Or the next. Once I figured that out, I decided there's no point waiting for a calm moment to write, and wrote this.

Aoi and Akemi were sitting on the couch with their cup of thee. Tenma was missing and Akemi was about to explain why.

" First, you need to know about the Strome." Akemi began.

"The Strome?" Akemi interrupted. "What's that?"

"It's what everything is about. And don't interrupt me!"

"Sorry." Aoi drank her thee.

"So, the Strome is some kind of power. A strong power wich you can use in soccer."

"Like the Second Stage Children?" Aoi interrupted again. But this time Akemi didn't seem to mind.

"Well… Yes and No. Yes as in it is special and it is used in soccer. But no because the power itself is completely different. And with the Second Stage Children each different individual had a different power. With the Strome there are only one power, but with different levels of strength."

Aoi listened with interest.

" The Strome gives a person extra strength. It can make a person jump considerably higher or shoot a ball much faster… that kind of thing. (A/N imagine something like the Breath in Galactic Football) You are born with it and you can't get rid of it. People with this power are called Stromers. Uhmm…."

Akemi paused to think about what to say next.

"You said there was one power and different levels of strength?" Aoi said, trying to make Akemi talk again.

"Ah, yes. Uhm… There are three levels of strength: Yellow, Green and Blue. Yellow is the weakest. Those born with Yellow have hardly any problems with controlling their power. They mostly can have a normal live"

" A normal live?" Aoi asked.

"Ow, yeah. I'll get to that later. The Green are in the middle. They are much stronger than Yellow, but not as strong as Blue. Most people with the Strome have Green. And the Blue are left. Blue is the strongest, but also the rarest and the hardest to control. People with Blue have to train at least a year before they can control it fully, and even then…"

"And what 'strength' has Tenma?" Aoi asked.

Akemi raised one eyebrow. " And how would you know Tenma has one?"

"If Tenma didn't have one, you wouldn't tell me this story." Aoi smiled, being very happy with herself.

Akemi sighed. "Tenma has Blue."

Aoi looked shocked, but she wasn't very surprised. She figured Tenma would have the strongest one.

"Why haven't I noticed anything? I've known him since we were little." She asked

"People with the Strome aren't allowed to use it. You have to contain it everywhere and always, unless you have special permission. When you're little you get trained in controlling and concealing the power."

"But when I first saw Tenma, and the years after that, he wasn't good at soccer at all. And if the Strome is a soccer kind of power…"

"They don't get trained in playing soccer. That would be stupid. If the enemy catches them they would have a weapon. It's better to just teach them to control their powers instead of how to use them."

"Then… Who is the enemy?" Aoi asked.

"They call themselves jiyū no seshi. Their leader is Hannibal. They believe people should be allowed to use their powers, even when it has gone disastrously wrong in the past. They kidnap Blues and Greens to make an army. So they can rule over the soccer world and make using the power legal again."

"Tenma would never agree to that!" Aoi stated.

"Not willingly, no. But he doesn't have much choice." Akemi swallowed. "Most Stromers are soccer freak like Tenma, they'd rather die than to betray soccer, but when you get caught by them. They… they… they torture you until you give in." Akemi said it fast.

Aoi gasped. It couldn't be true.

"They what?" she asked. Hoping to get another answer.

"They torture them. We think."

"You think?" Aoi shouted. " How can you not know that?"

"Don't lecture me about not knowing things while you didn't know anything about all this before." Akemi said, quite calm. "We don't know that because once they are taken we lose them completely. The first time we see them back are when they are working for Jiyū no seshi."

"Then why do you think they've been tortured?"

"Because they have all these awful scars and wounds, the first time we see them. And they get a coldness in their eyes only people who have been tortured have. And plus, why else would they work for them. We think it's the only logical explanation left." Akemi explained.

Aoi thought for a moment. Trying to understand what she just was told. She couldn't imagine it. Sweet, cute Tenma being tortured.

"But wait, who's we?" she asked.

"What?" Akemi said.

"You were talking about we. You are with a group. A group that fights against these people maybe?" Aoi said hopefully.

Akemi just looked at her for a second. And then made a decision.

"Yes I am with a group. Although it's more an organization. We are called Eiyū-Teki and we protect Stromers from Jiyū no senshi. We are those who train Stromers to control their powers and try to keep them away from our enemy."

"Is Tenma in it to?"

"Yes, anyone who gets trained is automatically a member. That's how I got in too."

"You're a Stromer too?" The moment Aoi said it she could hit herself. Of course she is one. How else would she know all this.

"Yes I am. I am a Yellow. Not very strong. Weak even. But strong enough to know these things and weak enough to not be a target. Perfect to watch over Tenma."

"Alright, so… why did you watch Tenma? And why did he quit soccer?" Aoi asked.

Akemi took a deep breath.

"I had to watch Tenma because the enemy knew a Bleu was at Raimon, but not who it was. That's also why he had to quit soccer. Since the Strome is a soccer power it's logical to start looking for a Stromer at the soccer club."

"But why did he stay? Wouldn't it be the safest for him to just leave and go somewhere else?"

"Wow, no shit Sherlock, why haven't we thought of that? You must be a real genius." Akemi said, her voice full of sarcasm.

"Sorry." Aoi said.

"Of course we wanted to move Tenma. Where not idiots. Tenma just didn't want to leave. It was quite a discussion. In the end I came with the solution. Tenma would leave, or he would quit soccer."

"And he chose the last one."

"Exactly."

"So that was the thing in the office about." Aoi said, remembering how they had hacked the security cameras."

"How do you know about that?" Akemi asked.

"We hacked the security cameras of the school." Aoi said, like it was something she did every day."

"Ah, okay." Akemi said, acting just as casual.

"But why did they choose you?" Aoi said, serious again. "I don't mean to be rude or anything. Just curious."

Akemi laughed. "That's alright. They chose me because I already knew Tenma. I really am his cousin and we did training together. Plus, I know mister Davon, who also knows Tenma."

"Mister Davon? The scary man?"

"Well… He isn't as scary as he looks, but yes. He coordinates Tenma's protection. He's one of the best."

"If he's one of the best, than why was Tenma kidnapped?" Aoi said angry.

"You can't blame him. He did his best. We don't know what happened." Akemi looked like she was going to cry again. "It's my fault. I should have protected him. He was my responsibility, that's why I was here. I failed him."

Now, she was crying. Aoi hugged her. "Sssh, it's alright. It's going to be fine,"

"No, it's not. Didn't you pay attention. We lost him."

"Yes, but can't we save him. Your organization does that right? Save people?"

Akemi shook her head. "No, they protect people, not save them. It's too dangerous. No rescue mission ever succeeded. And we could just bring a spy with us. It's too dangerous."

"What, they're not planning on saving him?" Aoi was crying now too. Until now she believed there was a change. That there was hope. It was chattered now.

"No," Aoi said.

"What do you mean 'no'" Akemi asked.

"No, they have to rescue him, they are going to rescue him."

"Aoi, I already told you. It's too dangerous."

"I don't care. We're going to talk to the boss, what's his name again."

"Fengári is our leader. But you have to at least be a coordinator to speak to him."

" Oke, than were going to mister Davon. He is a coordinator right,?" Aoi stood now.

"Yes, but…"

"No buts, were going to him right now!"

Akemi still doubted.

"Besides," Aoi said. "Things will work out somehow."

Akemi shook her head to wake herself up.

"Alright, let's go."

Tenma was lying on a cold stone table. And he was hurt. Badly. He had cuts and bruises everywhere and a lot of broken bones. He was scared. Scared and tired. Scared, tired and angry. Scared, tired, angry and upset. But above all he felt betrayed. Betrayed because the one person he trusted, the one person he didn't have to lie to had betrayed him. The one person who knew everything about him.

Yuuki Akemi

so, it was longer than last chapter. I probably made a lot of mistakes, so feel free to correct me. And review. All the reviews I got did a lot for my motivation.